50 Great American Places to Visit This Summer

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Illustration by Kagan Mcleod36/47

South Carolina: Sleep in a Treehouse

The only thing more relaxing than sleeping in a Carolina Heritage Outfitters treehouse is getting there. From near Canadys, you lazily canoe 13 miles with your cooler of food and drink down the cypress-lined Edisto River – one of the Southeast's longest free-flowing blackwater rivers – passing little but fishing camps, egrets, and blue herons. By afternoon, you reach Treehouse Island, a 55-acre wildlife sanctuary with screen-windowed treehouses suspended 15 feet over the river. Grill steaks, climb to your perch, and sleep to a serenade of croaking frogs.

Getting there: From the Charleston airport, drive an hour up S.C. Highway 61 to Carolina Heritage Outfitters in Canadys. Grab supplies and food and then a canoe from the outfitters (rates start at $150 per person).